Martin Scores Third Career Pole at Phoenix, Now 7th on All-Time List
Mark Martin captured his third career pole at the Phoenix International Raceway and this is his 20th career top-10 start dating back to his debut here in 1988. At 54 years old, Martin still shocks guys like the young Kasey Kahne, who will start on the front row for the first time at Phoenix.
Phoenix used to be a tough track for Kahne and when I asked him, “What has changed for you at this race track?”, Kahne said, “This track had always been a struggle for me even in open wheel cars and quarter midgets. The banking was just so tough.”
Since the 2011 season, Kahne has had three top-10 finishes out of the last four races ran and it was in the spring event in 2011 when Kahne got loose and hit the wall early in the race while running in second. If he didn’t hit the wall, I bet Kahne would have been a threat at the end. Look for the 5 car to be the biggest threat out of the Hendrick stable. Out of the top-5, all five at some point have had a history with Hendrick Motorsports.
Kyle Busch will start from third, Jimmie Johnson will start in fourth, and Jeff Gordon will start in fifth.
Matt Kenseth fell off from his quick practice run and he will start the race from the ninth position. Denny Hamlin was one of the favorites to win the pole, but he had a very early qualifying lap and wound up in the eighth position. Danica Patrick had a rough start to the weekend and she will start in 40th.
I asked Mark Martin, “You started on the pole last year and led the first lap of the race and wound up in ninth, how do you ensure you are there at the end of the race and not just the beginning?” Mark said that he and the team, “Just need to make this car the best out of the entire field and it starts with the two hours of practice we have tomorrow.”
Martin is a two-time winner here at Phoenix with his first victory coming in 1993 and his most recent coming in 2009.
| Starting Lineup – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/qual.php?race=2 | |||||
| ========================================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| ========================================================== | |||||
| 1 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 138.074 | 26.073 |
| 2 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 137.862 | 26.113 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 137.804 | 26.124 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 137.673 | 26.149 |
| 5 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 137.164 | 26.246 |
| 6 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 137.143 | 26.25 |
| 7 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 137.075 | 26.263 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 136.924 | 26.292 |
| 9 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 136.882 | 26.3 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 136.861 | 26.304 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 136.835 | 26.309 |
| 12 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # | Ford | 136.731 | 26.329 |
| 13 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 136.654 | 26.344 |
| 14 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 136.602 | 26.354 |
| 15 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 136.483 | 26.377 |
| 16 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 136.364 | 26.4 |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 136.291 | 26.414 |
| 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 136.266 | 26.419 |
| 19 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 135.936 | 26.483 |
| 20 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 135.89 | 26.492 |
| 21 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 135.87 | 26.496 |
| 22 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 135.44 | 26.58 |
| 23 | 51 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 135.44 | 26.58 |
| 24 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 135.267 | 26.614 |
| 25 | 78 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 135.247 | 26.618 |
| 26 | 7 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 135.1 | 26.647 |
| 27 | 36 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 135.064 | 26.654 |
| 28 | 95 | Scott Speed | Ford | 134.917 | 26.683 |
| 29 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 134.821 | 26.702 |
| 30 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 134.705 | 26.725 |
| 31 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 134.695 | 26.727 |
| 32 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 134.373 | 26.791 |
| 33 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 134.343 | 26.797 |
| 34 | 83 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 133.814 | 26.903 |
| 35 | 19 | Mike Bliss(i) | Toyota | 133.774 | 26.911 |
| 36 | 35 | Josh Wise(i) | Ford | 133.591 | 26.948 |
| 37 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | 133.571 | Owner Points |
| 38 | 33 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 133.383 | Owner Points |
| 39 | 44 | Scott Riggs(i) | Ford | 132.92 | Owner Points |
| 40 | 10 | Danica Patrick # | Chevrolet | 132.89 | Owner Points |
| 41 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | Toyota | 132.023 | Owner Points |
| 42 | 32 | Ken Schrader | Ford | 131.747 | Owner Points |
| 43 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 131.286 | Owner Points |
Matt Kenseth Powers To The Top Of The Chart
Matt Kenseth showed off some speed this Friday morning as his No.20 Dollar General Toyota was the fastest in the first session of practice. Kenseth’s lap was at over 137.023 mph. Joe Gibbs Racing took three of the top five positions as teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were second and fourth quickest on the charts. Kenseth just edged Busch’s lap at 136.976 mph.
Denny Hamlin is the defending winner of this event and Kyle Busch dominated this event before being overtaken late on a restart by eventual winner, Kevin Harvick.
Mark Martin was third quickest this morning. Martin will be a man to watch during qualifying as he sat on the pole for this very event last season.
Carl Edwards rounded out the top-5 as the only Ford.
Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson was sixth quickest and Danica Patrick is coming off her 8th place finish at Daytona with a lot of confidence. However, she was just 30th quickest this morning.
Practice Speeds – Practice 1
Race 2 of 36
SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/practice.php?race=2&PS=1
Kyle Busch wants to win championship, but may fall short due to mechanical issues
“We want to win championships – that what we’re here for. To do that, you first need to be consistent each and every week.” – Kyle Busch, February 2013
After a disaster of a season last year, Kyle Busch was looking to come into this season and turn things around, in hopes of making the Chase and possibly winning his first Sprint Cup championship. However, Daytona didn’t start off how the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Camry would have hoped, falling out of the race due to an engine failure.
“Just broke something inside the motor,” he said. “There are pieces that are supposed to stay together, and they didn’t stay together. I hate it for this whole M&M’s team. All of the guys at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) built an awesome piece. All three of us have been fast since we’ve been down here. The best we’ve qualified here in a while, so kudos to all of the guys building these cars, but we’ve got to have engines that last.”
Last year, Busch was plagued with motor issues, having two blow back-to-back mid-season. That combined with some other mechanical problems took Busch out of championship contention, leaving him to finish 13th in points.
With that said, there was concerns going into the season is whether Toyota Racing Development has sorted out all of the issues that they experienced last year. Back in early February, Busch said you could be certain it was taken care of.
“It was very well addressed,” he said. “I spoke my mind a few times, probably one time that I shouldn’t have, which is who I am. The Toyota guys worked really hard. There’s a whole group of guys in California that work really hard on our engines. Unfortunately, we had some problems last year. I broke three in a row and then I had another problem at Loudon running second. So those guys have worked hard through the off-season making sure those problems don’t arrive again. That’s all they can do.”
However, concern is back as Busch wasn’t the only driver to blow a motor. Busch’s teammate Matt Kenseth blew his motor a lap after, pulling into the garage after running in the top three with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. also experienced issues under the hood of his Toyota, too.
Throughout the past couple of seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing has been in contention to win championships, however has always found problems of it’s own. Denny Hamlin made the Chase last year, however finished sixth after experiencing issues of his own.
The next couple of weekends will now be a test to see whether issues continue, or whether this was just a fluke deal to start the season off. Busch heads to Phoenix International Speedway this weekend, where he has one win and 10 top 10s in 16 starts.
“I’m not here to make a check – I’m here to work hard and I’m here to win and bring home trophies and championships are what my ultimate dream is,” Busch said. “I don’t know whether it’s the Lord upstairs just making me wait, or what. Even if I did win one championship, I’m not done, I’m not leaving – I still want to win more. You still have that same hunger and drive to get as many as you can. It just plays out as it does, sometimes.”
Speed is one thing, but liability has to be there to be consistent and win the championships. If Busch wants that championship, TRD better do their homework.
